# Food ingredients now essential that were unavailable before Columbian exchange **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 6, 2019, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230 "2019-08-06T12:39:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/21 "2019-08-06T18:22:47Z")
Coffee anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/22 "2019-08-06T18:25:22Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Please change thread title to “Columbian” Exchange. This has nothing to do with “Colombia”. Fixed. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/23 "2019-08-06T19:03:03Z")
A lot of medieval recipes make larger use of almonds than we would ever imagine. Almond milk was a standard, paste, flour, extract, almonds in every form permeate the cookbooks I’ve seen. There was also a far greater use of “pulses” as side dishes (basically cooked mesclun,whatever leafy greens were available) and they ate a whole lot more cabbage than we do. Carrots were allowed to grow really large and roasted as we would a sweet potato; this is delicious, and I’m always thrilled when I find some at the farmer’s market. To get a quick and comprehensive look at what they used and how, you might browse this [glossary of cooking terms.](http://www.godecookery.com/glossary/glossary.htm) ETA: Turkeys have largely replaced geese, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/24 "2019-08-06T19:12:19Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Coffee anyone? Coffee is an Old World plant ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/25 "2019-08-06T19:14:38Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > There was also a far greater use of “pulses” as side dishes (basically cooked mesclun,whatever leafy greens were available) I know of the term “pulse” as indicating legumes, like lentils. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/26 "2019-08-06T19:56:49Z")
Can we also submit examples from the other half of the exchange, i.e., Old World ingredients that replaced ones in New World cuisine? Okay, I get that there’s a huge list of modern New World staple foods like rice and beef and chicken that weren’t known pre-Columbus, so that might be broadening the remit too much. But what I’m thinking of is specific examples such as the now-widespread use of Asian coriander, _Coriandrum sativum_ or cilantro, in Mexican and other Americas cuisines instead of the native culantro or _Eryngium foetidum_ (not that culantro isn’t still widely used, but the non-native cilantro or coriander leaf appears to be far more common). Likewise, Mediterranean grape varieties have largely displaced native fox grapes or muscadine grapes in the Americas, and same thing for Asian persimmons. Returning to the New -\> Old half of the exchange, how about blueberries (_Cyanococcus_)? Would you say they’re now an “essential” ingredient outside the New World, and if so, did they “replace” another food? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/27 "2019-08-06T20:15:39Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > I’m surprised at how popular corn is in Korea; it’s in every salad and on most pizzas, and the steamed ears they sell at street vendors is a weird kind that’s unpopular in America. By contrast, during the Berlin Airlift, Germans were insulted to get corn in their care packages because they regarded it as food for pigs and cows, not something humans would eat. I think the English feel about halfway between these extremes about it. “Oats: A grain that in England is fed principally to horses, but in Scotland supports the population.” -Samuel Johnsono. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/28 "2019-08-06T20:17:20Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I think turnips served in the “potato” role pre-Columbian exchange. Probably other root vegetables like rutabagas/swedes, too. Potatoes were on the table in filming the Robert Taylor _Ivanhoe_. Realizing the error, baked apples were substituted. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/29 "2019-08-06T20:23:13Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > You mean New World plants? Yes, good catch, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/30 "2019-08-06T20:45:36Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > There was also a far greater use of “pulses” as side dishes (basically cooked mesclun,whatever leafy greens were available) Pulses are legumes, not greens. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/31 "2019-08-06T21:16:23Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Pulses are legumes, not greens. Yeah, I wonder if maybe **TruCelt** was thinking of leafy greens like purslane and parsley (which I discovered with some surprise are not in fact etymologically related, slap my ass and call me Sally), and momentarily confused them with pulses. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/32 "2019-08-06T21:25:05Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > “Oats: A grain that in England is fed principally to horses, but in Scotland supports the population.” -Samuel Johnsono. Of course, the traditional come-back is some variant on “That’s why England has the finest horses, and Scotland the finest men.” I always had the impression that the big 4 (tomatoes, corn, potatoes and chiles) didn’t actually replace anything per-se, but were just adopted as new staples over time. I suppose you could argue that potatoes replaced turnips as the poverty food of choice, but I don’t know that it really displaced them in a culinary sense. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/33 "2019-08-06T21:47:56Z")
Here’s the list so far – Corn (maize) Potatoes Sweet potatoes Tomatoes Chilis (including sweet peppers/capsicum) Turkeys Chocolate/cocoa Vanilla Tobacco (stretching the definition of food ingredients to consumables) Cassavas Wild rice Sunflowers (seeds) Common (Phaseolus) beans Peanuts Squashes and pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo) Pineapples Quinine Coca Agave Chicle Strawberries Blueberries ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/34 "2019-08-07T01:11:33Z")
I gotta say, in that list only potatoes, tomatoes, chilies, chocolate, vanilla and beans qualify as what I think of as **essential** ingredients in any Old World cuisine as practiced today. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/35 "2019-08-07T02:01:27Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Likewise, Mediterranean grape varieties have largely displaced native fox grapes or muscadine grapes in the Americas, and same thing for Asian persimmons. I recall muscadines growing wild on my Grandfather’s farm. What are they used for? The ones I tasted as a child were nasty. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/36 "2019-08-07T03:20:52Z")
Avocados are native to the Americas. Not a vital crop but I’d miss them if they were gone. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/37 "2019-08-07T03:25:53Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Chocolate/cocoa > Vanilla > Strawberries I guess this explains why ice cream wasn’t popular in the Middle Ages. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/38 "2019-08-07T03:28:25Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I recall muscadines growing wild on my Grandfather’s farm. What are they used for? The ones I tasted as a child were nasty. They’re a wine making grape. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/39 "2019-08-07T04:17:36Z")
cranberries ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230/40 "2019-08-07T06:20:11Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I guess this explains why ice cream wasn’t popular in the Middle Ages. Oh, but it was! Just expensive and difficult to make/get, but both the courts of Olite and Istambul happened to have access to it (different versions, the one from Istambul was more like a modern sherbet and the one from Olite more like frozen juice); Istambul’s was famous throughout the known world (and anybody who hadn’t heard of it was officially in the boondocks), Olite was more of a local reputation (its own realm being a lot smaller and less important, and spending a lot of time doing our best to look innocent and non-threatening). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-ingredients-now-essential-that-were-unavailable-before-columbian-exchange/838230.md?page=3)